Saturday, September 23, 2006

Imagine that u are in a new city and u suddenly get stung by a bee or bit by a dog or just happen to get viral fever. Now no one you know in that new city is a doctor, so u hunt for a doctor nearby. Now, when you go to a particular address, you see 2 sign boards. One board saying Dr. XYZ, MBBS, MD, PHd etc. and the other saying Dr. PQR, MBBS. Without even a second thot, you wud go to the first one, isn’t it? So, we have established that the doctors are more trustworthy and more able when they have more degrees.

Now take this scenario. There are around 30000 students passing from 12th in Maharashtra every year. With some taking BCom, some BE and some want to do a noble thing and they take up medicine. This seems no big deal just outta junior college. But later in life what must these students thinking when they see that their peers have started getting a 5 digit salary even before they are out of college. “Patience!” the medicos convince themselves and continue with their stressful life.

We often hear IT people facing increasing amounts of stress these days. Atleast they are getting well paid for this.... But no one seems to have mentioned abt the stress that the medics go thru... The emergency calls, the 24 hour duty turns, the late night outs for studying followed by an exam and a grueling 8 hour emergency turn. Isnt this what is called stress? Well, everyone safely assumes that they are doctors and hence they have to go thru this to become able doctors.

Thus with zilch social life and with a huge trauma associated with patients dying, abortions, neurotic cases, dissections, taking the history of psychopaths and the monotony of internship these few brave souls complete their graduation. With the knowledge that their engineering counterparts have earned enough, got settled in life and even started a family, these doctors now start the next grueling phase of their life, MD studies.

They are sitting for a complete year at home, amidst the books doing nothing but going thru the 4 years syllabus in detail again to clear this exam. Like any competitive exam, this one is tough and comes with the same scales of success, around 3000 in 10 lakh students. And if you want an admission in the top 3 – 4 colleges, then the number is first 300 in 10 lakh students. Inspite of these odds and the associated huge fees, these doctors toil hard day and night to just get a degree which convinces people that they are good too.

Then comes a big political decision - 50% reservations to make sure that everyone gets equal opportunity. I am not even going to venture about the validity of this decision but this forces the medicos over the edge… the only thots now are, “five months now, lets study hard… The odds are now 200 in 10 lakh… So without wasting any more time, its back to studies again… better and harder….” Then comes another decision, without MOship government colleges students cannot appear for CET… the cream of the batch who took admissions in govt colleges was getting penalized for their brilliance…. This clause was only for these students and not other private college students….. So, in effect for these students - the one exam for which a year drop was taken, the one exam for which last few months meant nothing but being between books - was now out of bounds for them... But masses have a different opinion... They say that they have to do it… they signed a bond for it…. Isn’t medical profession a noble one? These government college students get subsidized fees… This is what they should be doing in return of those liberties they were given…. I agree that all these points are not only valid but also right….

But cudnt this be timed better…. Cudnt this be done at a time when their studies were easy going…. When the pressure dint demand 14 – 15 hour of everyday study? Cudnt this be done during the early 4 months of the one year drop instead of the last 4 months? For the students of course, life which had just suffered a deadly blow, now suffered a fatal one…. “Doing MOship in the last 4 crucial months is stifling my chances of getting a good seat…. Doing MOship in these months is going to make me lose a seat and hence not become a doctor ever… Doing MOship is going to convince my parents to stop my studies and get me married off…. I want to do an MOship but cant this wait till its after this one exam that I am studying for…” etc are the only thots around…. the only ray of hope, a petition gets filed and the only one way out of this mess is to pay one lakh…. And these students agree to do it…. Outrageous, isn’t it….

But can you imagine how much these people were pushed over the edge that they agreed to take this step…. This step effectively makes their one question in the exam worth 300 bucks…. They already were pressurized due to the competition, then reservations added to it and finally this 1 lakh payment added icing to the cake…. Of course…. Adding to this is the belittling of people and general public looking down upon them for not serving mankind…. But just question ourselves, aren’t we being unfair? How much can we expect from some people who actually gave up the comforts in their lives to become a part of this noble profession.

I just hope we don’t push them so much over the edge that they start to regret the decision they have made and make sure no one else they know makes the same mistake again that they did………

Thursday, September 21, 2006

This is me and I am a suicide bomberGod please make my will grow a little strongerHere I am in the train that'll blastIn a few seconds, nothing will remain, not even its cast....

There are so many ladies in this compartmentListening to their talks is a form of an entertainmentSome talk about soap operas from the previous daySome of the dreams that, in the future, lay....

It's so difficult that this liveliness will turn to ashBut I have to fight against the people who think my country is trashI have been taught that this is the only way to seek justice for usThis is the only way of salvation for us...

But are these the ones really to blameOr are those who behind them, the politicians lame.....

But if I dont do anything soonMy country will grow up as the meal of these goons.....

Please God when you measure vices & virtues in the heavens abovePlease add one more virtue for all who come nowFor in a very little time, they made me feel aliveFor the first time, I felt like a human and not a bee from the hive....